viodlimbo

What:Singapore VS Thailand!
When:Yesterday 7:30 p.m.
Where:Bangkok!!

This is a VERY important match for us! We NEED the win to stand a chance to qualify for the Asian Cup 2011! Easier said than done too, from what I recall, I do not remember wining in Thailand since I've started watching soccer. Sure enough, a quick check with the papers stats that we have not win in Thailand since 34 years! Before I was born la omg! On top of that, from the Sat. performance we witnessed, we need to get back on form, and FAST!

Before that match started, I tried something which I had not tried for a damn long time, I went to Singapore pools and bet Thailand to win, or a draw with Singapore... in short, results which I don't want to see.. kinda a phsyc. thingy I guess.. The net profit: If Thailand wins, I lose $2, if draw, I win $10, if Singapore wins I lose $30, an amount I would gladly give away if we win..

To make it more nerve wrecking, Channel 5 is showing a delayed telecast of the match.. at 11.30 p.m!! (actual match starts at 7:30 and ends by 9:30). Had to warn a few friends whom I know keeps track of the match not to let me know the result, avoided the news, and gosh it wasn't easy.. the temptation to just check the internet to find out if we did it!

Well! 11:30 finally came! All set at my house with Gen. armed with a Macs supper, and off we go!! Overall, we def. played much much better than the game I saw 4 days ago, the replacements our coach made were more than up to the job! Had some nervous moments here and there, but as a unit, we functioned. Then the goal came!! Just before the first half ended too!! 2nd half was good too, loads of 50-50 challenges which we went and got it... and man somehow the last 10 minutes of the 2nd half passed extremely SLOW!! But when the whistle was blown.. WE DID IT!! We got the 3 points!!!!

The qualification is back in our hands again!
P.S. Note to self, always bet against Singapore for them to perform.

Singapore vs Thailand Asian cup qualifiers! Was probably one of the most impt. matches for us this year. If we've managed to get a result, there's a high chance we would be at the Asian qualifiers at 2011. Half the stadium was filled, most were donned in red, the players were good to go, and the kick off soon started. We were.. very predictable, after holding the ball for a very short while, we would pump long balls towards the goals which were easily sniffed out. The midfield was rather lazy, taking a long time to cover the defence when we lost the ball. To top it up, we have away an early penalty at the very start, some which would consider a extremely dubious penalty.

It's not like we didn't have the chance, there were 2 point blank misses, and the ref. was somewhat kayu, turning down 3 penalty appeals, 2 of which seemed like the same scenario when the Thais were awarded a penalty. Now we really need a result on the 18th, when we head to Thailand, an uphill task indeed..



Then headed to Newton to meet up with Gen. and Kim, both whom touched down right after the match ended. Was really a good time catching up and all! N their faces when they ordered those Singapore local food.. like priceless.. lol

Wanted to bring my family to Bellini for dinner for this occasion! But mum kinda objected, reasoning that with the current APEC, will be damn crowded etc etc, which I kinda disagreed, but oh well, the good old SICC dinner was nice =).

Then came the traditional cutting cake, somehow this cutting cake ceremony made my heart stir, it's only that I realised it has been what, 6 years? Since 2003 I was never there for these celebrations with my family, 2 years in army and 4 years in Aussie, where their bdays don't fall between the summer breaks. It was really a.. 'cute' scene when the cake was being prepared and he started singing the 'Happy Birthday' song to himself, and man he was all smiles..


Good times!

So! Had a competitive run for the first time since...years! If memory serves me right, the last time I had a competitive run was back in.. the army days I think (2004), when I represented the Recce team for a 3rd Division Tiger Trail run.. overall we came in 3rd, and I remember how we were beaming with pride, beating some teams sent by the commandos, navy etc..

N since then? There was the occasional taking part of stand. chart and all that but at a real slow steady jogging pace.. think you get my point..

So! The race started at 7 am, so technically we would have to be there at 6, in other words, Melvin and I woke up at 5. Then was a quick drive by to Macs. for a cup of tea and hashbrown and it was a drive to the race venue, which was all the way at Changi area!! N man there was a jam along the way, whole bunch of cars heading towards the car park at the start point.. luckily we headed for the place early, if not we'll really be in trouble. Did the usual warm ups, warm up runs.. strides etc etc and then we tried to squeeze to the front of the starting point as much as we could..

N then we were off! Wa was really.. first competitive run.. but basically race strategy is still the same from the past, have a good break off at the start, find someone comfortable to pace with all the way, till near the end and then go for it.

Of course this is different compared to the Cat. High days,man it was really.. uncharacteristic to have so many young sec. school/jc kids bypassing me every now and then.. as well as some girls I might add.. I remember at the 7 km mark was being chased by this girl (quite a hot one I might add or I was too shag then vision blur liao), then naturally the male ego pride kicked in.. like ni na mai die die also must not lose.. and gosh she chased me for a damn damn long time laaa... just won't let me GOOOO!! Damn happy with the timing too.. shaved 5 mins of my trial run, 50:57, of course it's far away from my personal best from the Cat. High days, but well one has to be realistic! Moreover, the feeling of going back to runs again, of keeping fit, of living the healthy lifestyle, of keeping a balance with work and health.. this is good!!


Thanks to all the well wishes! Msn!! Smses! Fb wishes and all! Was really sweet and nice of you guys!! N congrats to too Melvin for doing a good timing too! Hope it will be one of the many races I'll take part all the way!

You have followed me for a few years now... you've kept me thru my army years, my years in Aussie, as well as Sg...

You have suffered many injuries, I've tried again and again to patch you back up, but when this happened last thursday, I know it's time for me to let you go. Like what Melvin has been telling me a few times when the minor injuries happen.. "Let it RIP already! Let it be free!!".. and when you're suffering those injuries.. I can kinda picture you singing to Duffy's Mercy song of "You got me begging you for MERCY! Why won't you RELEASE me!" N thus I have..

You were a good shoe!!

This week has been rather eventful actually! Especially during the later part of it. One of the events was this...

Got a random call by someone whom I didn't know, was told that I won some door gifts for doing a survey like a few weeks ago (something which I can vaguely remember). I was seduced by the gifts she said. On the phone, I was told I got 3 prizes, a $1000 gift voucher to buy stuff, a 1 for 1 cruise offer, and a free trip to thailand whereby the accommodation is already booked and I just need to book the plane ticket.

Of course there are already things which I suspect got something wrong, number 1 they said this will take 90 minutes of my time. When I prompted them for the reason, they told me they are a new travel agency kinda thingy just open so wanna promote their stuff offer cheap cheap. Then they said they have loads of stalls set up so would walk around explain to me and stuff. Number 2 they told me not to bring someone else because space constrain will have loads of people. Number 3 they changed the time of meeting again and again due to some strange reasons..

Anyway, the offer was quite tempting la, and since I had nothing to do anyway, might as well take a look.

So of course I was armed with a mentality with a very "No obligation" mentality and I was being reassured on the phone I don't need to do anything.. when I did get there, I told the reception my gift tag number, and then was greeted by a very young pretty (and I might add hot) girl (whom later revealed that she was only 21, who brought me to another room. Then she started the casual chat on random things, before explaining to me that they are actually selling this membership card (which the cheapest one was 10 k), and that if I travel a lot it would be useful, she then gave some very skimpy and vague details, which on paper did sound like a good deal, but there was simply not enough information.

So in the end, I've given a very "let me think about it" and "too little details shared" answer, and she asked if I could reschedule for another day, which I think I might cancel. But yeah! Gimmick sia, no door gift, and no travel booths which I was told, and it's not even a travel agency, I swear if it wasn't a hot chick I would have left much earlier.. lol

On the running front! Went to do a trial run with Melvin to familiarize the route at 7 am, the running route was, well we both agreed was much easier compared to the running route we usually do in Mac Ritche (only one uphill and even then the uphill is not steep). The timing we did today was quite satisfying too! Had a little humiliation at the end though (which I will say no more). Kinda can't wait for the race day to come actually! Something exciting to look forward to!! Melvin then brought me to Changi Village Hawker for bfast, where he recommended the nasi lemak, and man it didn't disappoint! I could do this every sunday!

"Don’t count every minute of your run, make every minute of your run count.”

RARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://urbanathlon.menshealth.com.sg/index.php?page=race-information

OMG OMG!! IT'S COMING TO SINGAPORE!!! HMMM TO DO OR NOT TO DO!?!?! THINKING ABOUT IT IS MAKING ME HIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Belated photos of the NY family! Saw them from Thurs to Sat! Was a good chilling/stayover/she sha session!!

Since yesterday has passed, gonna start with some resolutions until the running event is over, such as...
-No more alcohol
-No more she sha
-No more fast food (junk food etc...)
-Be in bed before 0030 latest (the race is at 7am

and a few factors which I will not bore you here, but yeah.. the healthy regime has begin, feels a bit like the Cat. High days when I was training for X-country..

On another note, met up with the JC family last week.. will update the photos soon! Gosh and some news which I saw on the papers are really kinda disturbingly hilarious! Sometimes I wonder, esp. all those quotes you see on the news, do people really mean that? Esp. all those political leaders or company investments etc...

"I wish YOU were never born"

Yup, good way for to kick off oct.! My boss gave it to me yesterday! The first proper paycheck I've had in years! N yesh I can hear most people ranting "Fab why in the world have u been doing to earn this salary!?" Well, I don't think I've done enough for this $, but hey, boss say ok means ok what! U not happy come be my boss lor!

On another note, things are staring to get busy, have to balance between training as well as work as well as social life.. (yes there are still things I have to DO at the office)... eh actually, come to think of it, most of you working friends can't be that busy all the time either what! Mostly on msn, leaving messages at facebook and all.. how busy can u guys be!!! rarrrrrr! You just have to pretend that u're busy while ur boss is around while I'm don't have to!!

Good month good month! In all sorts of aspects! Well, on the religious front, it's the month of the rosary, and I did follow my family for a rosary and mass session on the first day. The homily gave by the priest was quite a good one I must say, he gave a true life account of something happening in Nigeria with regards to the rosary, something which I will remember at least for a while.

N of course, there's Oct fest! In Singapore of course this is not generally being upheld, but we tried our best! A few Tommy Morons came over and we had a good drinking session. The rules that people make our while this drinking game is sometimes too insane and too hard to follow, I think only one got wasted while the rest were still relatively sober, all in all it was quite a fun night! Of course not forgetting mooncake festival! Lynette brought some sparklers over and Melvin got the mooncakes, and there some atmosphere of that was fused with Oct fest.. quite a weird combination if you ask me, but hey all is possible! K blockers then stayed overnight while the rest headed home. N we pigged all the way till noon.. a good "mini" holiday break!

So there's the answer...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_earthquake

OMG!! Was it me!??!?! Or did I see building afar shaking!?!?

First, media promotes loads of yellow ribbon projects, giving ex convicts a 2nd chance, have a forgiving heart, don't be so harsh on them, etc etc..

Now, I guess people knows the recent debacle of Miss Singapore with her credit card frauds.. so, where's the compassion that people were encouarged to display now? Seems like most feedback were harsh if not heavily critical. Ok so she's not a convict, but does that mean we suppose to be forgiving? Ironic? Isn't it?

On a completely different note, Melvin and I signed up for this New Balance run http://www.realrun.sg/event.html Gonna start easy and go for the 10 click one first, been a long long time since I did any competitive running.. kinda looking forward to it! Now I need to plan a proper training schedule.. this is good.. this will keep my weight in check! Esp. with 2 already planned drinking night sessions coming up! (It's October fest after all! We must share the German culture!)

My laptop feels brand new! All thanks to Melvin who recommended this shop at Sim Lim to give my computer a check especially when it's hanging here and lagging there every now and then. True enough, the problem was with the fan, which had to be replaced, and man did it make a difference. Not only that, the uncle at the shop cleaned my laptop for me, both internal and external, which was full of dust and small shreds of paper and etc etc etc.. It did make a huge difference! Things are smooth once again, and I have minimum lag compared to the past.. also got a new PS3 game at Sim Lim recommended by Mel (Saints Row 2) which is highly addictive. Bsscially you are a gang leader and you have to gain back your territories after being thrown in jail.. loads of fun for this game!

On another note, the Ren Cuo MTV is finally complete!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=168011481479
Thanks to everyone who have made an input to this video in on way or another, and I hope it was a good experience for all whom took part! Esp. big thanks to Melvin who did the video editing and graphics all by himself! Was awesome!

Can't wait to hit the gym later.. my body feels eager..

Life being stuck at home was damn boring! In the past week, I visited the doctor THRICE and had injections twice.. ni na mai, what's suppose to be a quick 2 or 3 day bad throat turned out to be something disastrous. N until now, it's still not recovered.

I think the worse part was the food, of course naturally I'll have to avoid heaty stuff, so the food rotation on the menu was porridge, udon, or macaroni, with veggies and pork (apparently other meat like beef and chicken act. quite heaty). So imagine eat that for... 9 days and counting, 3 meals a day! Goshhh... and yeah was damn jealous everytime during dinner when my parents plus sis munches on all the nice cooked food! arghhhh..

The high points was a jamming session with Cindy and Xinyu! Who came over last sat. was really shiok to meet people face to face after such a long time *lol*, yesterday was also another high point, my parents invited our parish priest to bless the house in the morning, while in the evening former hotel stuff members of the Singapore ones plus relatives came over for a gathering, once again, the food was good! Parents catered from SICC (Singapore Island Country Club), so there was peiking duck, all those food... and i was stuck with.. PORRIDGE!! !@#!@#!@#!@ but yeah was good seeing so many old friends again.. most of the hotel stuff were like working there since I was a kid la! N having been overseas in and out for 4 years, they hardly saw me around.. was really a good chit chat session with all of em!!

I WANT GOOD DELICIOUS FOOD!!!

This rest. is located at Mill. walk recommended by Cindy! It is the only other rest. (apart from Bellini Grande) that I know which has a lift within the rest. itself. The minute I saw this place it made me think of Gen. and Rebec, cos it's a German rest.! (Oh yesh I'm so gonna bring you guys there to try!) The food is quite good I must say, service was good too.. by the end of the meal, we were all virtually stuffed!

This meet up was to celebrate Miri's belated birthday, and gosh it was fun and good. Conversations ranged from plain randomness to seriousness to.. well you know, with a bunch of friends like these.. anything is talkable!



On a bad note, I'm kinda not feeling well, suppose to meet Auntie Li Ling for dinner tonight but still haven recovered, saw the Doc. yesterday and said my throat got this ter..tub..terb aiyah.. some throat infection which requires antibiotics.. and as a result of this bloody throat virius my head's gone vertigo too.. but oh well... should be fine soon..

Like what my dad told me when I was damn young.. "son when doing business, or anything in life, always account for variable change.."

after so many years.. i find that similar quote in the movie 21 when watching HBO.. like OMG

times changed too.. (of course all these is in Chinese translated loosely by me)
at 12-20 plus?
"Son, try not to go too much into relationships, now is not the right time for girls.. studies first!! N if you can get to study to Masters or PHD, even better!! that's your primary objective!!"
On a side note my mum did warn me
"If you ever get a girl pregnant, don't you dare ask her to abort the baby, I'll look after it, it's a life you're talking about! Don't care if you guys are still going to work out just let me have the baby if you don't want it."

after entering uni.
"Son, actually no need to study so much, Honours enough le la.. now go work and maybe you might wanna settle down?"

now
"Son how come you always like bring girls to the house one? U don't go play with their feelings can, I tell you will turn out very ugly one"

VARIABLE CHANGE!! Everyone's character and personality will change due to VARIABLE CHANGE!

I just realised there were loads of close buds of mine whose birthdays are in September! Like Rebec, Miri, Anthony!

So naturally, started to plan a suprise birthday celebration for Anthony. Date was set on thursday, and on the pretext of going Bedok 85 for it's famous Bah Chor Mee! However, the place we booked is fine dining, so berms/slippers are a def. no no. So I kinda drew up a fake excuse, telling him that at Bedok 85 area there's a famous western rest. where the dessert is damn good should go eat that after Bah Chor Mee, but attire need shoes and all.. he kinda bought it.. Then it dawned on me, but I'll be picking him up, if my car heads to Clarke Quay, wouldn't he be suspicious? So the plan was to say that Melvin is in that area and we're picking him up before heading to Bedok. Finally, how do we get out of the car and bring him there?! Thus the last smoke bomb was thrown.. told him we're going to do some MV shooting and Melvin found a very nice place to do it..

One way or another it succeeded!


Was quite a night to remember! Esp. the sabotage!